The two largest car-sharing companies in Portland have announced that some of the vehicles in their fleet will now be equipped with bike racks.
It’s not clear why both car2go and ReachNow announced the bike racks just minutes apart from each other today; but it’s a positive development for the many low-car Portlanders who use the services.
Car2go launched in Portland in 2012 and currently has 475 cars in their local fleet. They first installed bike racks on their vehicles in 2014 then phased them out when they moved to larger vehicles last fall. At the time, company officials said bicycle users could put the seats down and stuff bikes in the back.
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Here’s a video from car2go about the new bike racks…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW5B49QHShg&feature=youtu.be
Of the 475 car2gos in Portland, 50 of them are now equipped with a bike rack. Unlike the previous iteration on tiny SMART cars that were rear-hitch racks, the new ones are roof-mounted. In an email this morning, a company spokesperson said member feedback led them to add the racks, “Portland has a very rich biking culture and it’s very important for our members here to be able to switch between transportation options and even combine them in one trip,” they said.
Each of the new racks can hold up to two bikes. Wheel sizes from 20 to 29-inches (kids bike to standard road/MTB bike) and tire widths up to 2.6-inches (big knobby MTB size) will fit. When using the car2go app, you can filter search results to see only vehicles with bike racks.
ReachNow (owned by BMW) launched in Portland in 2016. They have about 350 vehicles in our market. In their announcement this morning, ReachNow said by June 26th, 30 of their MINI Coopers will have roof-mounted bike racks (bikes can be stuffed in the rear of all other cars in their fleet). The racks will be the Yakima Frontloader model. “We wanted to make ReachNow the most bike-friendly mobility service in the city,” a company spokesperson shared with us this morning. “We’ve learned that many of our members are active cyclists and may want more ways to get around with their bike.”
For more on car-sharing services in Portland, check out this 2016 rundown from The Oregonian.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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